Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!usinset!jr
From: jr@usinset.inset.com (Jim R Oldroyd)
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2
Subject: Accessing Locked OS/2 1.2 Files
Message-ID: <25@usinset.inset.com>
Date: 16 Feb 90 01:18:22 GMT
Reply-To: "Jim R Oldroyd" <jr@usinset.inset.com>
Organization: The Instruction Set, Waltham MA, USA
Lines: 31


On a fairly regular basis, I need to take a number of OS/2
machines and reset all the user-definable parameters to
their default "factory" settings.  Basically, this means
copying clean versions of CONFIG.SYS, OS2.INI, etc, etc,
back on to each machine.

Now, you CAN'T read or write OS2.INI and OS2SYS.INI while
OS/2 is running because the operating system locks the files,
and no access whatsoever is allowed.

To get round this problem, under OS/2 v1.1 I used to boot
the machine from an MSDOS diskette, and have a .BAT file there
do the desired copying.  This worked because DOS does not use
the OS2.INI files, so when DOS is running, they are not locked
and they can be overwritten.  This was great too, because to
reset a machine, you only had to put in a "special" diskette,
reboot and wait for the "done" message - everything could
be handled automatically from the DOS AUTOEXEC.BAT.

Unfortunately, under OS/2 v1.2, this is no longer possible,
because when you've booted DOS, you can't see the hard disk
(we're now using the new HPFS, rather than FAT).  So, you
can't copy any files on to C: at all, any more.

Help!  Does anyone know how I can do this?  I either need to
find a way to overwrite OS2.INI and OS2SYS.INI while the
OS/2 system is running, or find a way of booting a mini-OS/2
which understands HPFS from a diskette.  Any ideas?

	Jim.